Google’s AutoDraw uses machine learning to help you draw like a pro

Drawing isn’t for everyone. I, for one, am definitely not very good at it. But with AutoDraw, Google is launching a new experiment today that uses machine learning algorithms to match your doodles with professional drawings to make you look like you know what you’re doing.

You can use AutoDraw on your phone or desktop and the experience is pretty straightforward. You simply start drawing your best version of a pizza, or house, or dog, or birthday cake and the algorithms try to figure out what it is that you’re trying to draw. It then tries to match your squiggles with drawings in its database, and if it finds any possible matches, it’ll show them in a list at the top of your virtual canvas. If you like one of those options, you simply click on it and AutoDraw replaces your amateurish creation with something a bit slicker.

Artists who want to donate their drawings to the project can do that here, by the way.

This project actually uses the same technology as Google’s QuickDraw experiment. QuickDraw is more of a game, though, where you’re trying to draw a given object and hope that the AI algorithms recognize it within 20 seconds. With AutoDraw, you get more freedom to experiment, and, while you could read all about it here, it’s probably best you head over to AutoDraw.com and give it a try.